Timber Ridge Chairs, Tents and Camp Furniture

What Timber Ridge makes for campers

Timber Ridge sells camp furniture and family camping gear. On this site that means five things:

• Camp chairs: director's chairs, oversized quad chairs, zero gravity recliners, rockers, hammock chairs and two-person couches
• Tents: pop-up hub tents, instant cabin tents, tunnel and porch tents, SUV and truck-bed tents, and one inflatable tent
• Cots: an aluminum quick-setup cot and two extra-wide cots
• Tables: a bamboo folding table and a steel camp kitchen station
• A screened canopy: a pop-up gazebo for camp

The chairs are the biggest group, and that's where most people start, so I'll start there too.

Nearly every spec on this page comes from Amazon listings, and the grid above marks those values. Where a listing doesn't say, the grid shows a dash. I didn't fill any in. The grid also changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the groups and what separates them, not how many of each are up this week.

Lineup notes: the Timber Ridge chair groups

Director's chairs with a side table

A director's chair has a rigid seat and arms on a frame that folds flat. Most Timber Ridge director's chairs in the grid add a fold-out side table, and the grid marks which ones do.

What separates them is size:

• Laurel and SULU: the lighter director's chairs, listed at 300 lb
• Compact Directors Chair: 400 lb, with an 18-inch seat height and a 21-inch seat width
• Aluminum Oversized Director Chair: 400 lb on an aluminum frame, about 25 inches of seat width
• XXL Director's and XXL Extra Wide: 500 lb, with a seat width near 33 inches
• XXL Oversized Directors Chair: 600 lb, padded, with a side table

Here's the thing about a director's chair at camp: you sit upright, your coffee sits on a table at elbow height, and you get up without a fight. That last part matters more every November. The camping chair page covers the other styles across brands.

Oversized quad chairs and X-frame chairs

These are the folding chairs that collapse into a bundle and ride in a carry bag. Timber Ridge sells them as single chairs and 2-packs. The listings put them in two size steps:

• Oversized High Back Chair and Padded Oversized Camping Chair: 500 lb, about 24 inches of seat width and about 26 inches of back height, steel frames
• Oversized X-Frame Chair 2-Pack: 550 lb per the listing, with a cup holder

The SELA EZ-Fold is the plain one of the group: 300 lb, a cup holder and a carry strap. If you need a chair for a big person, or just a chair that doesn't creak when you sit down with a plate of chili, the heavy duty camping chair page compares ratings across brands.

Zero gravity recliners

A zero gravity chair is a lounger. You lean back and your feet come up above your hips. Timber Ridge lists four in the grid:

• Zero Gravity Chair: 350 lb, aluminum frame, padded
• XL Zero Gravity Chair: 350 lb, 20.5-inch seat height
• XXL Zero Gravity Recliner: 350 lb, padded
• Oversized Zero Gravity Chair: 500 lb, about 28.5 inches of seat width

These are for a lawn, a campsite or a porch, not a blind. They're long when they're open, and they take a flat spot. More on the type is on the zero gravity chair page.

Rockers and hammock chairs

The Oversized Folding Rocking Chair lists 400 lb, a 22.5-inch seat and a 32.5-inch back, padded. The two hammock chairs hang a fabric seat in a folding frame so it swings. The standard one lists 350 lb, and the oversized one lists 400 lb with about 31.5 inches of seat width.

A rocker on a gravel pad works fine. A rocker on soft ground sinks one leg at a time until you're tilted like a bad fence post. Put a board under it. The rocking camping chair page has the others.

Double chairs and the mesh recliner

Two listings are two-person camp couches: the Oversized Double Camping Chair and the Double Camping Chair with Side Table. Both list 600 lb, and the first one lists two cup holders. The Aluminum High Back Mesh Chair is the odd one out: an aluminum frame, a mesh seat and a reclining back, rated at about 400 lb.

A double chair settles the argument about who sits where. It starts a new argument about who gets up for more firewood.

Timber Ridge tents: pop-up, instant and porch

The tents are the second-biggest group, and most of them are family cabin tents. Three setup styles show up in the listings.

Pop-up hub tents

These have a hub in the center of each wall or the roof. You pull the hub out and the frame opens like an umbrella. Timber Ridge lists them in 4-person, 4-to-5-person and 4-to-6-person sizes, all cabin-style. The pop up tent page explains hub frames across brands.

Instant cabin tents with attached poles

The 6 Person Blackout Design tent and the 10 Person Instant Cabin Tent use poles already fixed to the fabric. You spread the tent, extend the legs and lock them. The 8 Person Instant Pop Up Cabin Tent is a pop-up model in the larger size. Cabin tents have steep walls, so you stand up straighter inside. More on the type is on the cabin tent page and the instant tent page.

Porch, tunnel and plain cabin tents

Two 8-person tents add covered space at the door. One lists a large porch. The other is a tunnel tent with a screen porch. The 6 Person Cabin Tent is a plain cabin design with vertical walls. For sizes across brands, see the 8 person tent page and the 6 person tent page.

SUV, truck-bed and car tents

Three listings are built around a vehicle: a 5-person truck-bed and SUV tent, a 5-to-9-person SUV tent with a screen porch and awning, and a 5-person car camping tent. Check that the listing names your vehicle type before you order. A tent that fits an SUV hatch isn't the same as one that fits a pickup bed. The car camping tent page and the truck bed tent page cover fit.

The inflatable tent with a stove jack

One listing is a six-person inflatable tent. It uses air beams instead of poles and lists a stove jack, a 78-inch center height and polyester fabric. A stove jack is a fire-resistant port in the wall or roof for a stovepipe.

Running a stove in any tent is a job for the tent's manual and the stove maker's instructions. Read both first. The CDC is plain about other fuel-burning gear: camp stoves, heaters, lanterns and charcoal grills should never be used inside a tent, and opening the flaps doesn't make it safe. The hot tent page and the inflatable tent page have more.

Cots, tables and the canopy

Cots

The 20-Second Quick Set-Up Camping Cot is an aluminum single cot. The two extra-wide cots, one listed at 31.8 inches wide, both list a 17.3-inch deck height. That's about the height of a kitchen chair seat, which is where my knees like to start the morning. The camping cot page compares deck heights and widths.

Tables and the camp kitchen

The Bamboo Folding Camping Table lists a bamboo top and a 220-lb load rating. The 56 in Portable Camp Kitchen Station lists a steel top about 56 by 21 inches, a 110-lb load rating and a storage shelf. One is a table you eat at. The other is a counter you cook at. See the camping table page and the camp kitchen page.

The screened canopy

The Easy Pop Up Gazebo is a screened shelter, about 11.5 by 9.8 feet per its listing. It's the bug-free room for meals, not a place to sleep. The canopy tent page and the screen tent page cover the type.

How to choose within the Timber Ridge lineup

Start with the weight rating, then the seat width

Rule of thumb: pick the group by how you sit, then pick the model by two numbers. The weight rating tells you how much the frame is built to hold. The seat width tells you whether you fit between the arms in a winter coat. A 21-inch seat and a 33-inch seat are very different chairs, even with the same name on the tag.

Then decide upright or reclined

Upright chairs (director's, quad, X-frame) are for eating, talking and getting up often. Recliners (zero gravity, the mesh recliner) and rockers are for sitting still. Pick the one that matches what you actually do at camp. At Hemlock Run, that's mostly eating.

Then think about the carry

The grid rarely lists a chair's own weight, so read the listing. Steel frames are common in the oversized chairs. Aluminum shows up in the Aluminum Oversized Director, the Zero Gravity Chair and the mesh recliner. If the chair rides from the truck to the fire ring and stays there, the frame material matters less. If it walks a quarter mile, it matters a lot.

For tents: count sleepers, then pick the setup

Tent capacity numbers count bodies lying down, not bodies plus cots plus gear. Pick a size up if you bring cots or a dog. Then choose the setup: pop-up hub, attached poles or air beams. All three skip pole sleeves. The camping tent page and the best camping tents list compare across brands.

Setup and care notes

Pitching the tent

The National Park Service's advice is plain. Find a large, flat spot and clear the sticks, rocks and pinecones, which can puncture a tent floor. Stay out of low spots, which get very wet in rain. Sleep with your head on the uphill side. If you use a tarp under the tent, fold the extra under so it doesn't catch water. And practice the setup at home first.

That last one applies double to a hub tent. The first time you push a hub, it'll fight you. Find that out in the yard.

Fire and the tent

Keep the fire ring well away from the tent. The Park Service warns that sparks can melt holes in tent fabric or set it on fire. Keep chairs back from the fire too. Padded fabric and stray embers don't mix.

Chairs and cots between trips

Fold chairs dry. Wipe the frame and let the fabric air out before it goes into the bag, or you'll open it next spring to a smell. Check the rivets and the leg caps at the start of each season. A missing leg cap on a steel chair turns into a leg that digs into the porch.

My take on the oversized chairs

One opinion, and the reason for it: if you're buying one chair for a whole camp crew, pick from the oversized or XXL group, even if you're not a big person. The reason is in the listings. The oversized chairs list wider seats, higher backs and higher weight ratings than the standard models. That means room for a heavy coat in November, and the brother-in-law who sits down hard.

Weight rating, seat width, then upright or reclined. Write those three on the box before it goes in the shed, and next year's you won't have to read the listing again.